Volunteer of the Month
Archives
April 2021
Leisa Alexander
This month we’d like to shine the light on someone few of you may have seen, but may have benefited from her volunteering. Lesia (pronounced Lisa) Alexander has been helping us out since 2020. During that time she has helped serve meals for Thanksgiving, Operation Senior Claus, and most recently, the Grab-n-Go dinners Monday thru Friday she can be helping out her sister, Mae Lucero, getting the dinners from the local restaurants, then helping to distribute them to seniors at the center. However, Leisa doesn’t just come here help to serve food. All that work can wear a person out, so when she’s not volunteering, she enjoys coming to the center’s Aerobics Program to boost her cardio. Originally from Meridian, MS, she and her two siblings came out Calif., to live with, and be raised by their big sister Mae, when their mom passed away. After she grew up she went to work for the Dept. of Corrections where she worked for 27 years before retiring. During that time she raised a son, who in turn, gave her a grandchild. Thanks Leisa for helping to ensure that our senior don’t go hungry.
Featured Class
Spanish
Date: April 23, 2020
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Length: 8 weeks
Cost: $8 members
$8 non-members
Instructor: TBA
Location: Game Room
Description: This class is designed to teach students conversational Spanish. The class will enable you to carry on limited conversation at first just to get you started. Then as you progress, so will the levels. As for what to bring, just bring a writing instrument and paper. Books might come later. We hope to see you there, or as you will soon be saying, Esperamos verte ahÃ.
Featured Activity
Canasta
Time: Thursdays 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: Free members
Free non-members
Location: Parlor
Description: If you'd like to participate in a card game as where you need a poker face, bridge intellect, and rummy fun, then you just might want to try Canasta. What exactly is Canasta? It is a game of the Rummy family and was once the most popular American game. Originating in Uruguay in the early 1940s, it spread rapidly to Argentina and the rest of Latin America, and reached the United States about 1948 where it is played by millions. The usual number of players is four, in two partnerships, however, it may also be played by two, three, five, or six players. The packs are made up of 108 cards, two regular packs of 52 cards, plus four jokers, all shuffled together. They have 3-4 full tables going so a seat is always available. If you don't know how to play but would like to learn you they are always ready and able to teach the ins and outs. They will gladly let you sit in and play and learn. After one hand you'll get the basics. If you are an experienced Canasta player, or are just someone looking for fun time, stop by the Parlor every Thursday from 1 - 4 p.m.
Operation Senior Claus 2011
By: Mike Sylva
(Christmas) is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. ~Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book
For those who have read Washington Irving’s ‘Old Christmas,’ you can appreciate the impact he had on bringing the idyllic English Christmas stateside. He is also credited by Charles Dickens as an influence on his own Christmas writings, including the classic A Christmas Carol. Both works seek to bring back the idea of hospitality. Something we could use in this commercialized Christmas era.
One way you can help with this is to remember that in this “season of giving”, it’s not always the amount of presents, or giving for giving’s sake. It’s giving to make a difference to someone. Presents don’t have to be big or expensive. Sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest difference in someone’s life. For some seniors it only takes 1 can of food, or $10 gift card to brighten the holidays of a senior this Christmas.
Operation Senior Claus is now coming to the home stretch and we need you to make it a success for us, but also a Merry Christmas for our seniors. We are hoping to help out over 100 seniors this years, but we need your help. We will be preparing Christmas dinners (turkey and all the trimmings), and little gift baskets for some worthy seniors. To do this we are still in need of money donations, gift cards to food markets, as well as hygiene products (i.e. toothbrushes, shampoo).
So please think about helping out those less fortunate and take the words of Ruth Cater Stapleton to heart. “Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.”
